In this week’s property party wall surveying blog post, we are going to be discussing adjacent excavation and deep foundations, and in particular, the type of precaution that will come into play if a building owner is undertaking these types of works.
Deep excavations are a very common form of notifiable party wall surveying work that a building owner can undertake for their property.
Commonly, these types of works will form part of the procedures in undertaking basement works. In lowering the level of the property, the excavations themselves will not only be deep, but will also be usually beneath the width of the party wall itself.
This type of work carry with them risk, and therefore, the party wall procedures, and in particular, the agreement of the party wall award, commonly referred to as the party wall agreement, will be the procedures in which those risks are mitigated and ultimately governed.
Deep foundations will likely see the party wall surveyor rely on the input of an advising engineer, or a checking engineer, to ultimately ensure that the building owner’s proposed works and structural design is as low risk as it can possibly be.
The party wall surveyor may also request the installation of movement monitoring which will ultimately ensure that the adjoining owner’s property is well recorded and monitored during the course of the works, to ultimately ensure that there isn’t any negative, or detrimental movement, which can result in significant issue and damage.
Deep foundations, carry with them some of the highest risks that party wall surveyors can see. Therefore, it is imperative that a party wall surveyor approaches this type of notifiable works carefully, thoroughly and with a robust attention to detail, to ultimately ensure that the adjoining owner’s property is well protected and those risks are as low as possible.
If you are planning on undertaking party wall works to your property or perhaps your neighbour is planning on undertaking party wall works to their property, give our team of qualified surveyors here at Stokemont a call today and we will be happy to assist.
Did you know, that we also provide 60 minutes free, no obligation party wall surveying advice. Why not take us up on this offer today and speak with our team of surveyors now.
